A year after losing the Division 3 state championship to Whitnsville Christian, the Dover-Sherborn boys tennis team has been on a mission to get back to the state finals and rewrite the end of that story.

By Kevin J. Stone/Daily News Correspondent

FRANKLIN — A year after losing the Division 3 state championship to Whitinsville Christian, the Dover-Sherborn boys tennis team has been on a mission to get back to the state finals and rewrite the end of that story.

On Tuesday afternoon at the Adirondack Club in Franklin, the Raiders took another impressive step in that direction, sweeping all five of its matches in straight sets, needing just 48 minutes to do so against Norwell in the Division 3 South quarterfinals.

Top-seeded Dover-Sherborn (18-0) has won two straight Division 3 South sectional titles and will now face either fourth-seeded Martha's Vineyard or fifth-seeded Bourne in the semifinals, with the time and place to still be determined.

Ninth-seeded Norwell's season ends at 11-6.

"The message to the guys today was don't look by anybody," D-S coach Jon Kirby said. "We've been successful the past few years but that success doesn't come easily. At this time of year anyone can beat anybody, especially if one team is looking ahead.

"To win the way we did today is a big deal. That Norwell team is a very good team and our guys just came out focused and ready to go."

The Raiders went up 1-0 roughly 30 minutes into the start of play when the first doubles team of Jake Budd and Seth Novitch swept Kevin Nosiglia and Nate Patch 6-0, 6-0. While it seemed like Budd and Novitch had any easy time with their opponents, it was actually quite the contrary.

"They played an Australian style that we actually weren't very used to," explained Novitch. "Basically the player they have at the net plays more towards the center, and that leaves the back line open for the other player. I thought we handled it well, found some weaknesses in it and took advantage."

"We definitely did a good job of keeping the pressure on them," added Budd. "We didn't let them come back and just kept our foot on the gas."

At second singles Dover-Sherborn's Lucas Minas handled his business, sweeping David Barcomb 6-0, 6-0 to put the Raiders up 2-0.

"I was very happy with the way I was able to serve the ball today," said Minas. "I was hitting a large variation of serves and I feel like it was really hard for him to get adjusted, he was always guessing."

Max Schuermann wrapped up shortly after Minas did, putting the Raiders up 3-0 with a 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Pat Kelly.

"We were really excited to get back to playing this tournament and we were looking forward to this match with Norwell," Schuermann said. "We didn't know much about them but we wanted to make sure we came in and handled our business.

"Sometimes I have a tendency to pull back today so I really just tried to stay aggressive throughout my entire match and it served me well. I was able to consistently regroup and stay aggressive without really giving my opponent any chance at getting back into the match."

Charlie Allen made it 4-0 D-S with a 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Tim Lynch. Shortly thereafter the sweep was complete as Sean Dougherty and Dan Elman swept Max Buehling and Evan Mannix 6-0, 6-0 at second doubles.

While most coaches and teams will tell you that things that have happened in the past have no bearing on what happens in this postseason, the Raiders have fully embraced the roll of redemption. After losing in the state semifinals in 2015, and the state championship a year ago, it's been in the back of their minds all season and a huge source of motivation.

"It's been in our minds and it's been a major motivating factor," said Schuermann. "We know what we want out of this year and I think we have the ability to go get it."

"We've talked about it and thought about it for a year," added Kirby. "We still haven't gotten over that sting of losing the championship match last year. It's been our goal all along to hopefully get back and play there again, but we know there are still a lot of tough teams in front of us."

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